Students requesting help for research

[Kyle Blais]

I'm part of a group of elementary and middle school students who are working on a project.
We're trying to find out right now how much more it would cost (compared to a regular refrigerator/freezer) to make a refrigerator/freezer that had two freezer compartments and one of them could go to -35 degrees C or less while the other was at around 0 degrees C. We don't need an exact price, but we need some type of range on what it should be. Could anyone help? We thought that maybe both compartments could use the same thing to cool but maybe there could be an extra cooling thing for one of them? But how much extra could it cost? We know that there are lots of different things that could affect the price but need some sort of idea for our presentation.

Thank you!

[Magoo]

A stock standard dual temp refrigerator operating at -40'C SST on R404a will a starting point, but a new compressor required, so double the costs. Capillary changes and experimenting required as well

[install monkey]

and additional insulation,fan cooled condenser, gauge points and thermistors to moniter,evaluate the findings- or switch on the fast freeze to see how low u can get (no additional costs)

[Kyle Blais]

Thanks for the responses!!

So if we were to imagine a company that actually made a product like this, and we wanted a residential refrigerator/freezer unit that had an additional compressor and capillary tubing, and extra insulation and condenser and temperature control features --- how much extra could just those materials possibly cost on a wholesale level? (a general range would be fine!)


Thanks!!!!!

[mad fridgie]

Thanks for the responses!!

So if we were to imagine a company that actually made a product like this, and we wanted a residential refrigerator/freezer unit that had an additional compressor and capillary tubing, and extra insulation and condenser and temperature control features --- how much extra could just those materials possibly cost on a wholesale level? (a general range would be fine!)


Thanks!!!!!

If all external dimensions remained the same (less usable internal space), then production cost would not go up by that much, less than 15%, but remember that at the retail end, it could be much higher as costs compound.

[Kyle Blais]

Thanks so much -- that brings up a related question -- obviously it will be different for different refrigerator/freezers, but what are production costs for refrigerator/freezers in general? For instance -- if a refrigerator/freezer sells for around $3,000 at the store, how much would you guess it cost the company to PRODUCE it?

[Magoo]

Approximately 1/3 of store price. The market for a -35'C freezer adaption would be rather limited though. Next exercise now doudt would be market analysis and potential market of this type of unit, medical applications would be my guess.